Sunday, January 10, 2010

Moving animals

I often post on the blog "we moved the chickens, cows etc today" but I never really post the blow by blow of what that means!! - in case you thought I was getting way to hearts and flowers about this farming thing : )

For one thing we spent all weekend moving animals and we moved the chickens, horses and cows (the pigs got moved last week which was good they needed a new spot)

so it's a LOT of work it's a little less in the summer but in the winter the cows and horses are all the way at the top of the #&$@%##!@# hill so it take a good bit of time and a bit more schlepping now that the gator is dead (thanks a lot Michael) ahh well my butt is better off for it...

sooo here's goes...

Chicken movinga. take down old fence this is a two person job - if you try to do it by yourself you are most likley to fall down in a heap of netting cursing and roling down hillb. pick up all the bits -- stakes, chalks for wheels, ramp note these items are usually a little bit slimy with chicken poo!!c. hike around and get into a sometimes heated discussion with hubs about best spot to move the chickens to nextd. hitch up bus on tractor raise legs and drag to new spot - this parts pretty low stress..

e. schlep posts, ramp and fence etc to new site this is my job while brian drives the tractor to the new site - I want his part of the job

f. level bus with jack and lowering legs (this usually evokes some pretty fine expletives from brain as we need a new jack) and also where he tells me about his new design and how much better it's gonna be (which it will I KNOW)- this is after his 100 other projects of course...g. put up fence again - by this time we are typically so glad to be almost done and not talking all that much - except for Brian saying we need to charge more for these eggs!z. let out the birds!! our favorite part they all pile out and go every which way with great enthusiasm! chickens moved now it's time for bacon and eggs!! (and today a bloody mary which may explain brian's hay stack interlude see below)

ok so now onto the cows and horses!!

a. Hook up trailer to tracter buck hay into it with a couple paletts to stack hay on up at new site and tarp it - this is for winter time supliment when they need a little extra to stay warm...b. Fill up water tank - after you rinse it out which is always a fun job in winter - drive that up the hill too - I'm planing this blog post while brian does this part : )c. Move animals houses this involves pulling stakes and lifting a 500# house onto the tractor hitch (I LOVE this part - I bend my knees for sure!!) then brian drives it to where it needs to go and I walk along side with a guide rope trying to both not fall on my face as I tromp through the scotch broom along side trying to spot this crazy thing and keep it balanced as we bump along... (i had given up my spotting position to take this photo )

d. something always goes wrong this time the track came off the crawler... that's always fun too... thank goodness brian knows how to fix just about anything...

e. now after all that brian needs a nap!! - josephine thinks this is a fine idea..

f. now moving the actual fence! - take down all the hot tape pace it out in new spot!! my favorite part of this is as you are dragging around about 50#'s of long loose coils of tape it get's wraped around something and you trip and fall on your face -- LOVE that part!

g. pull up all the old t-posts and the white step in posts - schlep them to new fence line straigt up hill stopping like every 20 feet so you don't' have a freggin heart attack!...

h. puond in new posts note ear plugs prevent you hearing your husband asking "why we are doing this anyway?" as he weed wacks behind you under the new fence line...

i - move water troughs to new spots - today I honed my rolling a stock tank uphill technique!! (due to the fact that the gator is done broke we couldn't use that like we usually do thanks michael )j- move animals to new site which typically not bad as they like a new spot to graze - today this was thankfully uneventful!! ahh it's the little things that make us smile!

The goats are next up for a pasture move... in the mean time they aren't complaining too much as they are getting hay till we get them in a new spot!

So yup we're crazy - and thank goodness I have a short memory so I will keep doing this...